John Craigie, February 22, 2020 The Republik, Honolulu, Hawaii
The lifestyle of Hawaii is often described as “endless summer.” The islands in the middle of the Pacific are blessed with a perfect temperature and passing rain showers blown away by calm trade winds. Musician John Craigie’s performance was reminiscent of sitting around a fire on the beach with friends and guitars.
The Los Angeles, California born, Portland, Oregon based musician stopped at The Republik, in Honolulu, Hawaii as part of his three island tour. The intimate crowd was treated to ninety minutes of Craigie’s witty, humorous, and satirical musical style.
Craigie performed solo, playing acoustic guitar and harmonica throughout the night. From the beginning to the end of the night the conversation flowed between Craigie and the crowd making it feel like old friends sharing stories. Songs such as “Woodstock Baby”, “Let’s Talk This Over (When We’re Sober And Not At Burning Man)”, and “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez” were a well balanced mix of folk songs and comical stories which had the audience chuckling the entire night.
An hour into the performance Craigie introduced his friend, Hawaii born musician, Jack Johnson. In the past Johnson and Craigie have toured and recorded music together so the guest appearance was somewhat expected. For the rest of the evening the duo shared “I Wrote Mr. Tambourine Man,” “I Almost Stole Some Weed From Todd Snider,” and a cover of Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How It Feels”. The performance concluded with “I Am California” a song in which John Craigie’s soft spoken lyrics embody the land, personifying the beaches, mountains, trees, of the golden state. After the show Craigie was kind enough to take pictures, sign merch, and chat with anyone who wished to speak with him.
The well balanced mix of folk songs and comical personal stories made for a wonderful evening. If you enjoy great folk music, good storytelling, and a few laughs, I strongly recommend catching John Craigie when he is performing in your area. https://johncraigiemusic.com/music